Of Secret Things

Ananda Vrindavan

Of Secret Things

Recently a young couple delivered a baby and as we were celebrating I asked their friend - so what’s the baby’s name?

Oh, was the reply, I know the name but they asked me not to share it. I appreciated her ability to keep her word and not tell me the name. This, I thought, is someone I can trust. 

“Of secret things I am silence” is part of a verse in the Bhagavad-gita, 10th Chapter. The chapter is called The Opulence of the Absolute and lists all the ways we can see Krishna in the world. Silence is one of those opulences.

The ability to keep a secret, honor the trust of another, to keep your word - that takes strength. When we don’t do that, when we speak after we have been asked not to, we see relationships break and conflict increase. 

Silence also indicates the ability to have a rich internal meditation practice to access the ‘secrets’ of the universe and our relationship with Krishna. 

And silence is so helpful for listening when someone is sharing their heart. We have such a tendency to advise or fix things right away, but the art of listening is the ability to use silence (or the right questions) to create a warm, safe space to share. 

Silence and secrets are not good when there are situations of abuse or imminent danger. But overall, the ability to keep confidential conversations confidential is one of the best ways we can serve one another. It’s the open secret of secrets.